Nike Launches Open-Source Environmental Apparel Design Tool

Nike has just released its Environmental Apparel Design Tool to the public, with the aim of encouraging other clothing manufacturers to design more sustainably. The online app, which is based on Nike’s Considered Design Index, helps designers make real-time choices that shape the environmental impact of their wares. But it’s not a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” Nike used the tool to create its South Africa 2010 jerseys—the greenest and most technologically advanced kits in football history, according to the sportswear giant—from 100 percent recycled polyester, a move that diverted 13 million plastic bottles from the landfill.